What Would Guttenberg Do?

I'm far from being a technological maven. But I am pretty savvy when it comes to reading the writing on the wall. And today, for a writer, that writing says -envision this is big, bold, billboard sized letters:

E-PUBLISHING IS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE
AND THE FUTURE IS NOW!


Would that this held true across the board. But it doesn't. Writers' organizations have rules and guidelines, obviously. Mystery Writers of America and the Thriller Writers' group, plus numerous others, have a published requirement, either to join, or to join at a full-membership level.

RWA does not have this. Yet.

But the past guidelines for membership in the Romance Writers of America will soon be - it appears - gone with the wind.

Re-vamping what constitutes a General member ("career-focused", and however they choose to define that term) is in the offing. Already the definition of an Associate member has been fine-tuned and re-vamped to narrow the membership. And the continual "career-focused" term, and the obsession with the amount of money an author makes, bode ill for the rest of us. Those of us who (as I have) have been members for many, many years, paying full, General Membership dues, have served on boards, as volunteers and as cheerleaders for our fellow members. Those of us whose dollars have gone to fill the coffers that have allowed the purchase of an entire building dedicated to the organization. We members who have attended national conferences (with hefty fees). Those of us at local levels who have raised our membership - and thus raised the membership of National, as well as the bank account. Well, it looks likes we're about to be pushed back down the ladder, slipping and sliding down those rungs as the current Board re-organizes the rules and regulations and restrictions and when it is all said and done the current (and much touted) membership of 10,000 will be far, far, fewer.

Am I worried? Well, not so much. Because over the past four years I have discovered the vexing frustration of membership in this organization. As a writer of erotic romance I am among those belittled by numerous members and not defended by National leadership. As a pre-published author beginning to grasp the import of the economic times and the technological advances, I am watching as the e-published author and format is dissed from here til Tuesday. Contest rules have been changed to be more exclusive. Membership status is being changed to be more exclusive. A Manchurian Candidate-like policy of explanation that keeps members from understanding the realities of the industry and hiding beneath the soothing blanket of "protection" and support offered by National RWA. But what isn't changing?

Well, let's see.

RWA's failure to support of the marketing/promotion and sales efforts of memberships ("self-promo" and "marketing" posts are frowned upon, restricted, or banned, entirely).

The dearth of serious craft and writing business knowledge among so many of the membership, including basic understanding of intellectual property issues, contractual basics and an understanding of the reality of romance fiction versus the "RWA" promulgated romance "rules". (There are a ton of smart, savvy RWA members, to be sure, but all too often I see members floundering in a sea of misinformation.)

RWA's lack of support for the growing industry at large and the newest technological aspects that permit greater diversity of publication formats.

RWA's (apparent) lack of understanding of the economic and industrial changes that are taking place in the publishing industry which are further dictating a move towards e-published and digital formats.

Or, RWA's continued failure to recognize that the primary movers and shakers in the romance publishing game have seen the light and are moving forward with various format changes and different business models that are poised to take the world of the written word by storm.

Frankly, I'm learning far more from non-RWA sources. Other Yahoo groups, marketing organizations, e-zines, trade periodicals, non-RWA conferences, and non-RWA writing groups who have broken out of the divisive, caste-like RWA mold. Sadly, there are some great RWA chapters. There are some great RWA members. There are lots of folks who are grappling with the changing economic times, evolving genres in the romance fiction world, and technological advancements that have even the mavens struggling to keep up, all while attempting to write wonderful, entertaining books that can please their readers, get their work published, and make an honest living at it. It just seems to me that they are fighting these various battles alone. That RWA is retreating to its ivory tower to hide behind the tried and the true - and the antiquated, and in the process is not just raising the bar for members, but is actually turning it sideways into a pole vault rather than a high jump so that far fewer of us can make the cut. And we'll be relegated to a real, or a perceived, second class status.

So, I'm wrapping up my RWA business. I'll be taking my bat and ball and going to play in a whole new ballgame. I've got responsibilities at the moment to RWA chapters that I don't feel comfortable abandoning even though I will not be a participant beyond this year. No more sweating the time commitment of my volunteer services for multiple chapters. No more thousands of dollars membership fees, conference registration costs, contest entry fees. I'll be learning from authors who are out in the real world but not hampered by the RWA yoke. Not buying into the growing, discriminatory mentality of the RWA. Not swallowing the excuse that e-published authors can't succeed or be deemed "published" simply because they didn't get the $1,000 advance. Learning about the new technology, the value of on-line marketing and web presence and meeting and networking with people who are not stuck in a darker age when publishing success meant a pretty book on a shelf in a mall. I'll miss some fabulous people - but I'll be cheering them on whether it be by purchasing their pretty paper books off the shelves - or wrangling an e-book onto some form of a digital reader. But in my mind, they'll be just as thoroughly PUBLISHED either way.

Hell, before too long, I predict in the very near future, small presses, POD and e-publishing may very well be the only way authors outside of that hallowed "best seller list" world may ever get published or sold. Publishers are reining in their acquisitions so fewer of those precious "mass" published, paper copy books are going to be churned out anyway. And bookstores are folding, some hovering at the precipice of bankruptcy, and cutting back on their orders - sticking to the tried and true bestsellers. Tell me that's not a sure fire disaster for the mid-list author! Or if you are one of those lucky few authors to get "traditionally" published? I'm betting that oh-so-holy advance against royalties is going to be winnowed down, whittled away and shrunken. And publishers will be less generous when you don't sell-through. And marketing budgets will shrink so more of the burden will be on the author to hit the bestseller list. So what yardstick will be used to validate a "real" author when the holy grail of "advances" goes from four or five or six figures to, say, three? Who's gonna be the "real" authors then?

Hmmm?